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iiillillli ARTHUR i3. C'U'RRY, UCE' HIGHLAND PARK, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNR FFTYONE ONE- HUNDRETHS T0 MICHAEL A. MAHONEY, 0]? DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

Specification of Letters Patent.. I Pmtutd @epm gp, 1919.

application filed anuary 31; wie. Serial No. 2371MB@ @o o l ywhom t may concern:

lie it known that ll, 'ARTHUR B. Conny, a citizen of the United States residing at Highland Park, county ot i/Vayne, State oit' Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful improvement in Spark-Plugs, and declare the 'following to be a toll, clear, and exact iflcscription of the saine, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to nialre and use the saine, reiten ence being' had to the accontipanying;r draw inlis7 which 'torni a part of this spccilication.

.llne invention relates to spari; pings7 and its object. to provide a spark plug; with electrodes arranged in such manner that oil. splashed or accumulating.)T thereon `in .op-

eration oi the engine drains away `from the sparking point. By this arrangement the electrodes at the point of: discharge are maintained compara-tively free from oil whereby a n'iaxininnr electrical discharge may' taire place. This general object and the various novel features et the invention are hereinafter more ifully described and clain'ied and shown in the accompanying drawings illustrative ot the preferred form ot the invention lin whicl1- Figure Il is an elevation ot a spark plug embodying iny invention.

Fig. 2 is an alternative forni thereof., y

The spark plug mayv he of any approved type in which is centrally mounted an electrode l carried in the. usual insulating ineinber 2 and provided with a terminal 3 for connection with the electric wires, The character of the insulating hody Q is not material to this invention except that it he eilicient for the'purpose and may be secured vin any approved manner in the body t oi.

the plug tor instance by nican's ot the nut 5. T he body if ternjnnates in the usual thrcadeijl portion G by means of which it is secured in the head ot an internal combustion engine and tothe lower edge oi' and eiectrieally connected 'with this portion 6 (which is hollow in forni) is an electrode i" extending; downwardly thereitron'i and bent hach: anon-itself termination at the )enit 8 l y 1 r's Y l adjacent the cody oit the electrode l. it 1s to he noted that this portion 8` troni the' `head to 'the end thereof lies at an anale to thf-v electrodel l so that, from the sparking point or end ot the electrode, the said re versely bent portion may gradually inn crease in distance Afrom the part Ti to such extent that toward the lower end thereof 1t is such' a distance from the electrode l that no discharge may take place at that point. it is also to be noted that the. electrode 1 extends considerably below the sparking point and preferably below the hond in the electrode 7. y

By this arrangement oil, which is splashed onto the electrodes during operation of the engine or that may'accumulate thereon for any commonly known cause, feeds down the electrodes by gravity away from the point of electrical` discharge between the electrodes, This leaves the/point 8 and the part ot the electrode 1 opposite thereto comparatively iree from oil at all times, the tendency being for it to ldrain away iroln the said point of electrical discharge as before stated. lly this arrangement theretorc, the electrodes are maintained comparatively tree iroin oil at the point of electrical discharge and there is no material insulation ot' the electrodes one from the other. lurther, the accumulation of carbon on the electrodes at the point of electrical discharge is reduced to a minimum and thus the spark plug need be less frequently cleaned and at all times is capable of producinam the n'iaximum spark and consequently' a more ready ignition oi the fuel in the cylinder.

lt is evident that this result may be secured in other ways than the preferred lway which is here shown in Fig. 1 but the essential characteristic of my form is to provide.

the electrodes of such character and form that the oil accumulating thereon may drain away from the point oit' electric discharge.- An alternative form is suggested in Fig. 2 in which the electrode 7a is made fiatgparf ticularly 'at the bend as shown providing` a comparatively large surface and aiding' in drawing the oil away from the point oit electric discharge 8a, gravity being assisted by the capillary attraction more rap idly clearing the sparking points of oil. In this latter case it is also to be noted from the point 8f* to the .bend of the electrode 7 the anglethereot is of the saine character as the type of electrode 7 shown in Fig. l.`

l am a 'are ot' other spark plugs for i nternal coinhustion engines having an electrode provided with a rebent portion, hut in all instances within my knowledge this relient portion does not extend at such an angle that the lower part thereof is suicientlyidistant from the central electrode as to prevent sparking at that point. To accomplish the purpose of this invent-ion it is essential that this angle -be substantially as indicated in the drawingso that the point of 'electrical discharge is above thev lowermost point of both electrodes and in such position that the oil may drain away from the point of electrical discharge.

Having' thus briefly described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A spa-rk plug for internal combustion engines comprising a body, a straight electrode extending centrally there-through and insulated from the body, a second electrode in the electrical contact with the body and extending there below and having 4a -reversely bent terminal portion extending from the point of the bend upward toward the central electrode and providing a spark gapv of 'gradually increasing width downwardly from the point of nearest approach,

.said bent portion being thin or flat in form presenting a comparatively large depending surface onto which oil may flow away from the terminal point.

2. In a. spark plug for internal combustherebelow in the form of a V, the free end of which extends toward the central electrode, and providing a spark gap between the electrodes of a gradually increasing width, the said central electrode extending below the bend of said second electrode.

. 3. In a spark plug for internal combustion engines provided with a body, an lelectrode extending centrally therethrough and insulated from the body, a second electrode in electrical contact with the-body and extending therebelow in the form of a V, the lower portion of which is thin or flat in form presenting a comparatively large surface and the terminal portion thereof being substantially circular in cross section and positioned 'adjacent the central electrode, the said central electrode extending below the lowest point of the second electrode substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification.

ARTHUR B. CURB-Y. 

